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BOW Products FeatherPRO FP1 – Featherboard for Tables Saws, Router Tables and Band Saws
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POWERTEC 71393 Dual Universal Featherboards
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The Hedgehog Featherboard for Table Saws for Quicker, Easier, and Safer Workflow
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Feather boards are an essential tool for any woodworking shop as they help keep the stock pushed against the fence while making cuts, ensuring accuracy and preventing kickback. In a recent video, 731 Woodworks purchased and tested three different styles of feather boards to determine which one was the best for their needs. The three styles tested were the traditional style feather board, the popular Hedgehog style feather board, and the bow foam feather board.
Matt put the feather boards through a series of tests, including an adjustment test, pressure resistance test, lateral movement test, and vertical pressure test. They also tested the hand pulling perception of each board to determine which one offered the most resistance. The results of these tests will help woodworkers make an informed decision when choosing a feather board for their own shop.
Key Takeaways
- Feather boards are essential for accuracy and kickback prevention in woodworking.
- Three styles of feather boards were tested: traditional style, Hedgehog style, and bow foam style.
- Matt performed several tests to determine which board was the best for their needs.
Types of Feather Boards
Feather boards are essential tools in woodworking that help keep the stock pushed against the fence while making cuts. They come in different styles, and each style has its advantages and disadvantages.
In a video testing three different styles of feather boards, the traditional style, the Hedgehog style, and the bow foam style were tested. All three styles function similarly and come with miter bars that expand when knobs are tightened down. Feather boards are used for two main purposes: to keep the stock pushed against the fence while making cuts and to help prevent or slow down kickback that may happen during the course of cutting.
The traditional style feather board adjusts fairly quickly, but it takes a few seconds to set up. The Hedgehog style has a short miter bar with only a few teeth that make contact with the board, making it less effective than the other styles. The bow foam feather board operates similarly to the traditional style, but it takes about the same amount of time to adjust.
In terms of pressure, the bow foam feather board offers more resistance than the other styles. It has a living hinge that engages and locks down, making it extremely hard to pull after the initial slip. The plastic ones slide much easier, while the Hedgehog style slides fairly easy and doesn’t offer much resistance.
When it comes to lateral pressure, the traditional style, Hedgehog style, and bow foam style all have their advantages and disadvantages. The traditional style offers a little bit more resistance due to more teeth contacting, while the foam style grips more and offers more resistance.
Overall, it’s important to choose the right feather board for the job. Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s up to the woodworker to decide which one is best for their needs.
Feather Board Adjustment Test
In this video, Matt conducted a series of tests on three different styles of feather boards to determine which one is the best. The three feather boards tested were the traditional style, the Hedgehog style, and the bow foam feather board. The purpose of using a feather board is to keep the stock pushed against the fence while making a cut, ensuring accurate cuts every time. Feather boards can be used on a table saw, bandsaw, or router table to prevent or slow down kickback that may occur during cutting.
To test how fast each feather board can be adjusted, he untightened the knobs, moved the feather board where they wanted it, and then tightened it back up to make the next cut. The traditional style feather board adjusted fairly quickly, taking only a couple of seconds. The Hedgehog style was faster, but he did not care for the individual miter bars. The bow feather board operated similarly to the traditional style and took about the same amount of time to adjust.
He also tested how much pressure each feather board could withstand. They set up each feather board to apply as much pressure as possible against the board before starting to pull. The traditional style and bow feather board were able to withstand more pressure than the Hedgehog style.
He also tested how much lateral pressure it takes to move a board against the feather board itself. They used a digital depth gauge to measure the pressure and found that the bow feather board offered the most resistance.
Overall, he found that the traditional style and bow foam feather board performed well in the tests conducted. The Hedgehog style was faster to adjust but did not offer as much resistance as the other two styles.
Pressure Resistance Test
In a video, Matt conducted a series of tests to determine the best feather board for table saw use. He tested three different styles of feather boards: traditional, Hedgehog, and bow foam. The purpose of a feather board is to keep stock pushed against the fence while making cuts to ensure accuracy and to prevent kickback.
The first test conducted was to determine how fast each feather board could be adjusted. The traditional style feather board was found to adjust fairly quickly compared to the Hedgehog style. However, he did not care for the individual miter bars in the traditional style. The bow foam feather board operated similarly to the traditional style and took about the same amount of time to adjust.
The second test was to determine how much pressure each feather board could withstand before moving. He used a scale to measure the pounds of pressure and pulled three times with equal pressure to obtain an average. The traditional style feather board was able to withstand 26-27 pounds of pressure, while the Hedgehog style slipped at 13 pounds and the bow foam feather board slipped at 50 pounds initially but engaged the living hinge and became extremely hard to pull once engaged.
The third test was to determine how much pressure it took to move a board laterally against the feather board itself. He used a digital depth gauge and marked the fence and board to ensure consistency. He wanted to know how many pounds it took to move the board one quarter inch. The results of this test were not provided in the video.
Finally, he mentioned that they had previously made jigs that held feather boards to create vertical pressure in addition to horizontal pressure. Using both together allowed for more resistance before the feather board started to move. He also noted that the plastic feather boards slid much easier than the foam ones and that the traditional style feather board had more teeth contacting and offered slightly more resistance. Overall, the bow foam feather board was found to offer the most resistance.
Lateral Movement Test
In a video, Matt tested three different styles of feather boards to determine which one is the best for keeping stock pushed against the fence and preventing kickback. The traditional style, the Hedgehog style, and the bow foam style were tested in a series of five tests.
The first test was to determine how fast each feather board could be adjusted. The traditional style feather board was able to adjust fairly quickly, but not as fast as the Hedgehog style. The bow foam feather board operated very similarly to the traditional style and took about the same amount of time to adjust.
The second test was to judge how much pressure or how many pounds of pressure it takes to move each feather board once it’s engaged. He used a scale to measure the pounds of pressure, and the bow feather board was able to withstand the most pressure before slipping.
The third test was to determine how much pressure it takes to move a board laterally against the feather board itself. He used a digital depth gauge and marked the fence and board to ensure consistency. The goal was to see how many pounds it takes to move the board one-quarter inch, and the results were not provided in the video.
Overall, the lateral movement test showed that the bow foam feather board was able to withstand the most pressure before slipping. However, the results of the third test were not provided, so it’s unclear how effective each feather board was in preventing lateral movement.
Vertical Pressure Test
In a video, Matt purchased three different styles of feather boards and conducted a series of five tests to determine which one was the best. The three styles of feather boards used were the traditional style feather board, the popular Hedgehog style feather board, and the bow foam feather board. The feather boards are used to keep the stock pushed against the fence while making the cut, ensuring accurate cuts every time. They also help prevent or at least slow down kickback that may happen during the course of cutting.
The first test conducted was to determine how fast each feather board could be adjusted. The traditional style feather board was found to adjust fairly quickly, although not as quick as the Hedgehog style feather board. The bow foam feather board operated very similarly to the traditional style, taking about the same amount of time to adjust.
The second test was to determine how much pressure each feather board could withstand. He used a scale to measure the pounds of pressure it took to move each feather board once it was engaged. The traditional style feather board withstood 26-27 pounds of pressure, while the Hedgehog style feather board started to slip at 13.8 pounds and the bow foam feather board started to slip at 50 pounds. The bow foam feather board had a living hinge that engaged and locked down, making it extremely hard to pull after the initial slip.
The third test was to determine how much lateral pressure it took to move a board against the feather board itself. The three feather boards were tested in the same order, with a digital depth gauge set up to measure the pressure. He marked the fence and the board to ensure the same leverage every time. The goal was to determine how many pounds it took to move the board one quarter inch. The results of this test were not provided in the video.
Lastly, he conducted a test using jigs that hold the feather boards to create vertical pressure. The test was conducted to see how much difference it would make when used in conjunction with horizontal pressure. The results showed that using both types of pressure together allowed for more resistance against the feather board before it started to move.
Overall, the traditional style feather board proved to be the most efficient in terms of adjusting quickly and withstanding pressure. However, the bow foam feather board had a unique living hinge that provided additional grip and resistance. The Hedgehog style feather board was found to be less effective due to its tendency to slide and relax pressure.
Hand Pulling Perception
Feather boards are an essential tool in woodworking that helps keep the stock pushed against the fence while making cuts, ensuring accurate cuts every time. They can also be used at the bandsaw and router table to prevent or slow down kickback that may happen during the course of cutting.
In a video, he purchased three different styles of feather boards: traditional style, Hedgehog style, and bow foam feather board. He put them through a series of tests to determine which one was the best.
The first test was to determine how fast each feather board could be adjusted. The traditional style feather board adjusted fairly quickly, although it took longer than the Hedgehog style. The bow feather board operated similarly to the traditional style, taking about the same amount of time to adjust.
The second test was to judge how much pressure, or how many pounds of pressure, it took to move each feather board once it was engaged. The traditional style and bow feather boards offered more resistance than the plastic Hedgehog style feather board.
The third test was to determine how much pressure it took to move a board laterally against the feather board itself. He used a digital depth gauge to measure the pressure required to move the board one quarter inch.
In the Matt’s opinion, the plastic feather boards slid on the stock much easier than the traditional and bow foam feather boards. The foam feather board offered the most resistance, making it harder to pull, but also providing more grip.
Overall, the tests showed that the traditional and bow foam feather boards offered more resistance and grip than the plastic Hedgehog style feather board. However, the traditional style feather board was easier to adjust than the bow foam feather board.
Conclusion
In the video, Matt tested three different styles of feather boards to determine which one was the best. The traditional style feather board was found to be easy to adjust, but the individual miter bars were not preferred. The Hedgehog style feather board had only a few teeth making contact with the board, causing it to slip several times during use. The bow foam feather board operated similarly to the traditional style, with two knobs that needed to be tightened down each time.
He also tested how much pressure each feather board could withstand, and found that the bow feather board had the highest resistance due to its living hinge design. When used in combination with a jig that created vertical pressure, all feather boards showed increased resistance to lateral movement.
Overall, feather boards are important tools for keeping stock pushed against the fence and preventing kickback during cutting. While each style of feather board had its own strengths and weaknesses, the traditional style feather board was deemed the best by Matt.
